There is a bit of controversy surrounding the development of “Final Fantasy XV”, as the game has not only been making some rather peculiar changes to the overall setup of the franchise, but it has also had some issues with its production that have sapped the confidence of fans. In the end, it will likely be a successful game one way or another, but it could have some bad implications on the franchise as a whole if Square Enix don’t get things under control.
Some people have been pointing out interesting design choices, such as the fact that the crew of main characters is comprised entirely of males, and this actually has certain gameplay implications, according to reports. If a female joins the party, this is going to have an impact on the way all members are behaving, precisely because of the fact that they are all males. We don’t know if this will extend any further than that, but it’s definitely possible that the game could have such features, and even though they could have been put in there with a good intent, we can only guess how the gaming community is going to take such changes to the gameplay.
Meanwhile, some gameplay features have been getting some extra fine-tuning and added polish. The developers have been listening to player feedback, such as with regards to the feature for automatic weapon switching, something which was highly criticized for the way it broke some sequences and combos. Now, the game doesn’t switch weapons automatically anymore and players will be a lot more free in the way they approach their combat, allowing them to have more freedom in mounting a complex attack.
Some details about the plot have been revealed as well, and the game is starting to take a very interesting form, giving a lot of confidence to fans that it’s going to be a solid entry into the “Final Fantasy” franchise, and a title definitely worth checking out. There was a lot of criticism and controversy initially as players were convinced that the game was going in the wrong direction, especially with regards to some gameplay features, but Square Enix are a developer that listens and they are never going to release a game without taking in a lot of feedback from their community.
On the other hand, it’s also important to know how to filter that feedback correctly, as sometimes players don’t really know what’s best for the game and can make comments that sound wrong and out of context. Especially when they don’t see the full picture and don’t know what Square Enix have planned for the title other than what was already shown. It might be that some of the more controversial gameplay features actually make a lot of sense once they’re put in the context of the whole game, but we will have to wait for the final release to see how everything works. At this point, there will be a little more waiting to do.
The title is coming out in 2016 and it will be available on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. There is no word on availability on previous generation consoles, even though some fans have been hoping that they would see that, but at this point Square Enix seem determined to move forward with their development and not have to deal with compatibility issues for older hardware. This will allow them to make the most from this game, so it’s definitely a good move.